On Monday, December 7, we left Fernandina Beach and headed to Pine Island which is on the way to St. Augustine. The day was filled with tricky passages on the ICW through shoaling areas and timing the passage through one of the bridges at slack tide to avoid hazardous currents. Well one of those tricky passages put us hard aground. However, skillful maneuvering by Captain Ron got us off of the shoal safely and on our merry way. We arrived in the early evening at Pine Island which is a beautiful anchorage just off of the ICW.

On Tuesday, December 8, we did a short two hour passage that landed us in St. Augustine where we spent three nights. Our stay at St. Augustine (the oldest city in Florida) gave us a chance to reconnect with three couples we met along the way. Karen and Tim on S/V "Grace V" who we met when our journey first began back in Oswego, NY; Lindsay and Geza on S/V Namaste who we met at the Annapolis boat show; Jane and David Jameson on S/V So Far So good who we met in Oriental, NC. During our stay we had dinner at a seafood restaurant, Catch 27. The food was excellent. We also enjoyed a couple of happy hours on each others boats. St. Augustine is lit up in white lights for Christmas which outline all of the buildings, bridges and trees. It is looks like a fairy land. The view from our boat is magnificent. We really enjoyed our stay in St. Augustine.

This morning, Friday, December 11, we got up early and moved on South to New Smyrna Beach. Tomorrow night there is going to be a boat Christmas parade where all of the boats will be lit up for Christmas. We are hoping to anchor in an area where we can view the parade. Our next destination will take us to Vero Beach.